US Stocks Slip As Investors Cautious Ahead Of 1Q Earnings

DonnaKardos

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks fell slightly Monday as investors traded cautiously ahead of the first-quarter corporate-earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13 points, or 0.1%, to 12368 in afternoon trading. The Nasdaq Composite shed 16, or 0.6%, to 2764. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index slipped 6, or 0.5%, to 1322.

The declines came as investors looked ahead to the first-quarter earnings season, which kicks off unofficially Monday afternoon with Alcoa's report due after the market close. Shares of the aluminum giant had been up early in Monday's session, but the stock erased its gains and was down 1.5% in afternoon trading as the market grew more nervous about the coming release.

Investors are generally expecting first-quarter earnings to come in strong, but they are concerned about the impact of rising food and energy prices.

"There's some trepidation at this point in time," said Tim Evnin, partner and equity portfolio manager at Evercore Wealth Management. "The market is obviously up nicely on the year already and obviously up tremendously from its lows ... you continue to need strong earnings to support the markets here."

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